New Products, October 2004

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TOOL

Give Users Analysis Information in Excel Format

Advance Info Systems announced Query by Example for Excel (QBEX), software that lets business users query and manipulate data in SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services cubes through a Microsoft Excel interface. Users who already understand the database cube they're querying can type an appropriate report layout directly into Excel. Users who aren't familiar with cube structure can use the Item Selector to select and place dimensions and members in the spreadsheet. Alternatively, users can use the Layout Manager, a wizard-like designer, to create basic and complex reports. The product supports analytical activities such as expanding views to reveal more detailed report data, keeping or eliminating members or sections, pivoting dimensions across or down, and reordering dimension groups. The product lets you write data to a temporary cube so that you can perform "what if" analyses, and it lets you write data back to the database cube for use in planning or budgeting applications. Advanced users can employ Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to further automate data updates and create custom reporting packages. QBEX costs $449 per license for up to four licenses. Five licenses cost $1995, and purchases of five or more licenses include support and all version upgrades for the first year. For further information or other pricing options, contact Advance Info Systems at 416-226-7941, info@advanceinfo.com, sales@advanceinfo.com, or http://www.advanceinfo.com.

DATABASE ADMINISTRATION

Work with Databases Across Platforms

AquaFold announced Aqua Data Studio 3.7, a database-administration and query tool that works with all databases on all OSs. Through one interface, DBAs and developers can use the Java-based product to work on tasks in SQL Server, Oracle, IBM DB2, and other relational databases running on Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, or Linux platforms. The new release lets you visually create and alter database schema objects, including storage objects for databases. Schema extraction gives you the ability to extract the definition of any database object including security and storage objects. And a new import tool provides a simple interface to import data into any database from various data sources. A commercial license for Aqua Data Studio costs $89 per user, and licenses for personal and educational use are free with the purchase of a commercial license. For more licensing information, contact AquaFold through the company's distributor, Regsoft, at 800-780-8137, license@aquafold.com, or http://www.aquafold.com.

DATABASE SECURITY

Guard Database Security

Guardium announced the SQL Guard Security Suite, a set of integrated applications for protecting SQL Server 2000 and other relational databases. The suite, which requires Guardium's SQL Guard platform, includes three application modules: SQL HealthGuard, SQL PolicyGuard, and SQL AuditGuard. SQL HealthGuard lets you monitor, measure, and report on overall database security health. The module also tracks client-server interactions and draws a connectivity map of those interactions so that you can perform effective analyses of your system's security health. The SQL PolicyGuard module automates the process of developing database-access rules and enabling database-access controls. The SQL AuditGuard module monitors all database activities and automates the process of database auditing and regulatory compliance reporting. Because these applications work through the SQL Guard platform, which is non-intrusive, the applications don't affect database performance. The SQL Guard Security Suite is priced at $2995 per module. The SQL Guard database security platform starts at $12,995. For more information, contact Guardium at 877-487-9400, info@guardium.com, or http://www.guardium.com.

DATA-MINING TOOL

Use Your ETL Tool to Deliver Information

Datawatch announced Monarch Data Pump 7.0 (MDP7), software that combines the data-conversion capabilities of an extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) tool with enterprise information-delivery capabilities. MDP7 uses Datawatch's Report Mining engine to mine and transform data from a variety of existing report output files—trusted and audited reports as well as data residing in databases, spreadsheets, and other sources—to create and deliver new customized data views that meet end-users' needs. You can then upload the customized data views to your SQL Server 2000 and 7.0 databases and save the views in various formats including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and templates and Microsoft Access files. You can deliver reports and files by using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) news feeds or email, or you can save the reports and files to your system's folders. The latest release of the product features automatic transformation of existing reports into a variety of file formats, including .xls, .mdb, and .csv, without programming; faster uploading capabilities; automatic table creation; and task-scheduling and job-logging capabilities. Monarch Data Pump 7.0 pricing starts at $7995 per server. For more information and other pricing, contact Datawatch at 978-441-2200, 800-445-3311, sales@datawatch.com, or http://www.datawatch.com.

DEVELOPER TOOL

Get Code-Analysis Help for Developers

Fatesoft announced Sourcecode to Flowchart 2.5, a flowchart generator that lets developers reverse-engineer program code into flowcharts. The resulting flow diagrams help developers document, visualize, and understand source code in multiple languages, including C, C++, Visual C++ .NET, Visual Basic, VBScript, ASP.NET, and T-SQL. Developers can export the flow diagrams as bitmap images or to Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft PowerPoint. Enhancements to the latest release include a new Visio stencil and options that let you output source code into flowchart shapes. Sourcecode to Flowchart 2.5 costs $89.99 for a single-user license, and a free evaluation copy is available for download. For more information, contact Fatesoft at sales@fatesoft.com or http://www.fatesoft.com, or for phone orders only, call 866-500-6750 or 44-1297-552862.

TECHNICAL RESOURCE

Learn to Use and Program SQL Server 2000

Silico-Magnetic Intelligence (SMI) announced its Crash Course in Microsoft SQL Server 2000, a training course on three CD-ROMs that helps IT professionals learn how to use and program SQL Server 2000. The course prepares beginning and intermediate students for successful database access and application development. The CD-ROMs, which run on Macromedia Flash, contain full-motion video with audio narration. Each chapter contains 10-minute units that students can replay multiple times to master the skills they need to work with such essential SQL Server components as Enterprise Manager, Query Analyzer, and Data Transformation Services (DTS). The complete training package costs $245. For more information or a test-drive, contact SMI through SQL USA at sales@sqlusa.com or http://www.sqlusa.com/crashcourse.

REPORTING TOOL

Help Non-Technical End Users Access Data

Ariacom announced Ariacom Business Reports 3.1, a database-reporting tool for non-technical end users. Instead of burdening IT staff with requests for data and reports, your organization's managers and decision makers can use this product to create their own easy-to-understand reports—without technical knowledge or database experience. Users can create, update, and manage reports by using common business terms and simple logic, then share, print, fax, or email the reports to others who require the information. The product also includes a Report Scheduler and Web Report Server that let users schedule reports and publish them to the Internet. The software works with any SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Oracle, or MySQL database that uses an ODBC driver. Pricing for Ariacom Business Reports 3.1 starts at $150. For more information or a free, time-limited trial version, contact Ariacom at brcontact@ariacom.com or http://www.ariacom.com.

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